Waymap offers a precise navigation app that functions outdoors, indoors and deep underground, independent of GPS, WiFi or mobile data. Its navigation relies on an algorithm called SmartStep that uses only a smartphone's motion sensors and the user’s steps, delivering accuracy up to 1 metre. The app was initially designed to enhance the lives of blind users, though its utility extends to all users navigating transit networks and busy shopping centres. Waymap's probability-based location finding also has broader applications across smart city use cases and for companies or individuals seeking precise location. The company raised £7M in funding and intends to expand internationally, growing mapped areas in Asia Pacific and the Middle East while consolidating its presence in North America and Europe. Waymap builds a smartphone navigation app that gives free, audio step-by-step directions to visually impaired users, initially focused on public transit. The app relies on a phone’s inertial measurement unit sensors (magnetometers, accelerometers and barometers) and proprietary Bayesian and map-matching algorithms rather than continuous GPS to locate users to within about three feet. In a closed two-week trial the company tested the system at three Washington, D.C. Metro stops using lidar scans and 360° video to map stations; Washington is slated to be the first full-city deployment. Waymap plans a public trial at 25 Metro stations and 1,000 bus stops by September and intends to expand later to venues such as museums, hotels and hospitals. The company tests with both blind and sighted users (15 visually impaired, seven sighted and three orientation and mobility instructors in the D.C. trial) and envisions crowd-contributed step data from sighted travelers once usage grows. Founder and CEO Tom Pey created the company after losing his own sight at age 39.

Total raised

$14M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Apr 2024